More than 2,000 people live in the make-shift migrant camp in Saint-Denis, on the northern fringe of Paris. After France was ordered into lockdown last week, the already tense climate in the overcrowded camp has become near explosive.
Around 40 undocumented migrants who worked for the French delivery service Stuart during the coronavirus lockdown were dismissed after the restrictions were eased. While the company says it’s complying with the law, the workers claim Stuart knew it was employing undocumented foreigners.
Following the October 16 beheading of a French schoolteacher by a Chechen refugee in the Parisian suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, several media reports and statements by politicians have featured factually inaccurate or false information concerning the right to asylum in France. InfoMigrants examined and fact-checked these statements.
In Belgium, migrants have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic -- not only did they face difficulties in filing their asylum applications, the government has also imposed stricter regulations for accessing accommodation. Conditions for migrants have become extremely precarious, says the director of the NGO Ciré.
France has made the fight against domestic violence a priority but activists say the state has overlooked undocumented migrant women who are victims of domestic violence. Although laws have been enacted in recent years, they have failed to protect women deprived of gender and residency rights, they argue.
More than 200 people have pitched tents in central Paris in a protest to demand better care and facilities for migrants. When police tried to evacuate the camp, the Paris City Hall opened a room to accommodate the protesters.
In just one month, the number of migrants living in the Aubervilliers camp in the Paris region has more than doubled, from 400 in mid-June to around 1,000 in mid-July. While arrivals are expected to continue over the next few weeks, NGOs denounce the failure of the French reception system.
Amadou* had been working for two years in the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset when policemen arrived to detain him and then send him back to the desert, in the direction of Niger. The thirty-year-old West African recounted his journey across the desert and his difficult return home.
After years of service, hundreds of undocumented deliverymen have been laid off by meal delivery company Frichti in Paris. After the couriers took to the streets, they received public support from different organizations. Now the couriers are asking to return to work and to be regularized.
Migrant rescue ships are no longer allowed to operate in the Mediterranean, the situation in Malta is getting out of hand, and the number of Algerian migrants in Europe is rising at an alarming rate. InfoMigrants spoke to Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR’s special envoy for the Central Mediterranean, about these and other current issues.
Salif, a 31-year-old migrant from West Africa arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the beginning of April. From there he was transferred to Sicily where he says he and nine other migrants have been left to live on the streets. This is his story.
In less than a week, three migrants living in a temporary accommodation center in Paris have produced more than 1,500 facemasks to help protect people against the deadly coronavirus. The masks are given to the Salvation Army which then hands them out to migrant aid groups and other accommodation centers.